There are numerous tooth configurations and sizes which vary from one patient to another. In most cases, however, the teeth of the majority of people conform to certain profiles and sizes, such that orthodontic brackets mounted on the teeth can also be standardised to correspond to certain tooth sizes and configuration.
With the advance of higher quality casting and finishing processes, the sizes of orthodontic brackets have gotten smaller, in particular to reduce the cost of raw materials and for aesthetic purposes so as to draw less attention to the patient. However, the smaller the brackets are the more experience the orthodontist needs for properly mounting the brackets to the teeth of a patient.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,854 an orthodontic bracket is known which aims to obviate the problems in aligning and positioning the bracket on the tooth. This known bracket has a trapezoidal configuration comprising a pair of tie wings, each having non-parallel mesial and distal edges and further having an occlusal edge sustantially parallel to the occlusal plane of the tooth and to a sight line defined by the archwire slot formed through the tie wings. The edges of the tie winge form sight lines that intersect at a focal point located at the tip of the tooth root to assist in positioning the bracket. Further, a V groove is provided along the longitudinal axis of the bracket to form a sight line that also intersects the focal point. However, the location of this focal point can only be verified with the aid of X-rays so the orthodontist must compare the real tooth with its X-ray image when applying the bracket to the tooth. Further, it is to be noted that although this crowns of the teeth conform to certain profiles and sizes the tips of the teeth's roots sometimes deviate from the focal point defined by the intersection of the sight lines of the bracket. Bringing the focal point of the bracket into alignment with the tip of the tooth root then results in a misalignment of the bracket with respect to the visual surface of the tooth.
It is thus, an object of the present invention to provide an orthodontic bracket which enables an increase in the accuracy in aligning and positioning the bracket on the tooth. It is a further object of the invention to reduce the amount of time that a patient is in the chair while the orthodontist is mounting brackets. It is a still further object of the invention to provide an orthodontic bracket that will reduce the likelihood that an orthodontist will have to re-mount the bracket to correct for misalignmeat between the bracket and the tooth.